Leafs drop back-to-back games but hope still remains

Frederik Andersen and the Toronto Maple Leafs were humiliated by the Philadelphia Flyers, losing by a final score of 6-1 on Tuesday night. Sheldon Keefe then elected to start Andersen again the very next day. Andersen was sensational on Wednesday night, but the Leafs lost 3-1 to the Colorado Avalanche and failed to pick up a single point in their back-to-back set. The Leafs offence has gone ice cold, scoring just three goals in regulation over their past three games. The defence also hasn’t helped the cause lately as the Leafs have surrendered 16 goals in their last four games. Keefe started off his NHL coaching career with a perfect 3-0-0 record but has since seen his Maple Leafs drop three of their last four games.

Slump Busters

Although the Maple Leafs managed to get just one puck past Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer on Wednesday night, the goal relieved many Leafs’ players who were going through an offensive slump. Zach Hyman, who was the only Leafs goal scorer on Wednesday night, snapped a five-game pointless streak. Centerman Alex Kerfoot made a nifty pass to Zach Hyman on the play to snap his nine-game pointless streak and defenseman Cody Ceci picked up a much needed secondary assist to snap his miserable 23-game pointless streak.

Steady Freddy

Although the Leafs have cooled down significantly the last few games, goaltender Frederik Andersen has continued to put up all-star caliber numbers. Andersen has given up two goals or less in three of his last four games and has given up three goals or less in seven of his last eight games. The only game that Andersen had surrendered more than three goals in his past eight starts came in the blowout loss to the Flyers. Although two of the Flyers’ goals came in the last minute when the game was already well out of reach. Andersen continues to consistently give the Leafs a chance to win despite their recent offensive struggles and defensive malfunctions.

Leafs Schedule Becoming Less Congested

The Leafs have already played 30 games this season which is tied for the most in the NHL. They have also played eight pairs of back-to-back games this season, posting a 1-6-1 record on the second night of back-to-backs. The Leafs now have 52 games remaining this season and only six remaining pairs of back-to-back games. Despite their struggles, the Leafs actually have a decent record this season when the team is rested. The Leafs are 12-7-3 in games where they did not play the night before.

The Leafs will finish off the season playing 46 of their remaining 52 games with a rested team after playing just 22 of their first 30 games with a rested team. In other words, only 73% of the Leafs’ gamesso far have been played with a rested team but 88% of the remaining games will be played with a rested roster.

The Leafs’ confidence is evidently low right now considering they lost two consecutive games for the first time this season under new head coach Sheldon Keefe. A huge opportunity awaits the Leafs on Saturday night to regain their confidence as they head on the road to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.